'27 days after birth the girls got to meet.' The photo of premature twins you need to see.

When Melbourne mother, Ann Le, gave birth to twins last month, she didn’t realise how emotional their ‘reunion’ after being separated in the Neo Natal Intensive Unit, would be.

Entering the world very prematurely at just 29 weeks, babies Olivia and Zoe, who had shared a womb for months, were separated so they could receive treatment. Their mum captured the moment they were reunited a month later, in a photo – which shows the twins hugging.

Ann captioned the photo, “27 days after birth, the girls finally got to meet. Zoe immediately went in for the hug.”

 

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27 days after birth the girls finally got to meet. Zoe immediately went in for the hug ???????????? . . . . . . . . . . . . #twincuddles #twins #premmiebabies #tears #nicu #momotwins #mcmatwins #twingirls #twinbabies #skintoskin #kangaroocare #multiplebirth #realparentingmoments #babycenterbabies #huggiesau #postpartummother

A post shared by The Momo Twin Experience (@momotwinexperience) on Feb 27, 2019 at 1:31pm PST

The name of Ann’s Instagram is The Momo Twin Experience, which refers to the fact that the identical twins shared the same aminiotic sac, meaning they were born as monochorionic monoamniotic twins. Diagnosed by ultrasound, the pregnancy would have been extremely high-risk.

Twins Research Australia further explains, “complications can arise which warrant careful, regular monitoring. The most significant dangers relate to cord entanglement and/or compression and twin to twin transfusion.”

But it seems that Olivia and Zoe were determined to defy the odds, deciding to join the world at 28 weeks and five days’ gestation, as their mum posted on Instagram.

“At 28 weeks + 5 days the girls were delivered a bit earlier than expected. They were showing signs of distress on the monitor and had to come out.

“They were tiny at just over 1kg each but they were beautiful.”

 

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At 28 weeks + 5 days the girls were delivered a bit earlier than expected. They were showing signs of distress on the monitor and had to come out. They were tiny at just over 1kg each but they were beautiful ???? Unfortunately because they were so little, I missed out on immediate skin to skin with them as they had to be taken to intensive care for breathing support. But I knew this coming into surgery and was just happy they were alive and kicking! . . . . . . . . . . #caesarian #mcmatwins #momotwins #pregnancy #birth #twins #prematurebabies #happy #hospital #twinpregnancy

A post shared by The Momo Twin Experience (@momotwinexperience) on Feb 27, 2019 at 1:07pm PST

Ann added that the babies were removed at birth for treatment, so she “missed out on immediate skin to skin with them as they had to be taken to intensive care for breathing support.”

The mum, however, “was just happy they were alive and kicking.”

Olivia and Zoe have become stronger in the last month – so much so that, even they are only 35 weeks gestational age, they were still able to participate in International Women’s Day last Friday.

“Today is International Women’s Day,” Ann captioned an update photo on 8th March.

“Our strong little women have had a tough start to life but they are little fighters who keep pushing through.

“It’s quite rare that we see Zoe snuggle up to her sister, she’s always the wriggly one, but yesterday she was quite happy to spend hours here.”

 

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Today is International Women’s Day. Our strong little women have had a tough start to life but they are little fighters who keep pushing through ???? . Its quite rare that we see Zoe snuggle up to her sister, she’s always the wriggly one, but yesterday she was quite happy to spend hours here . . . . . . . . . . . . #twinsofinstagram #twinmom #twinmum #twingirls #nicu #nicubabies #mcma #momotwins #mcmatwins #monochorionicmonoamniotic #twinlife #twinning #momlife #mumlife #premmiebabies #internationalwomensday

A post shared by The Momo Twin Experience (@momotwinexperience) on Mar 7, 2019 at 12:42pm PST

This week, the girls underwent heart surgery. Their mum, Ann, told Mamamia that the girls are recovering, and wanted to thank “the wonderful work of the NICU staff at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne.”

 

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This is the reality of NICU; one minute the girls are on minimal breathing supports in open cots, next minute they’re back in humidicribs on ventilators having heart surgery. To say this past week has been stressful is an understatement. Unfortunately their breathing has progressively worsened over the past few weeks and the girls have not responded to any medications. As a result, they have both had surgery on their little hearts. So far they have responded well. Still early days but a great start. We could not express our gratitude enough to the surgical team from the @rchmelbourne and medical team from @theroyalwomens for looking after our baby girls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #twinsofinstagram #twinmom #twinmum #twingirls #nicu #nicubabies #mcma #momotwins #mcmatwins #monochorionicmonoamniotic #twinlife #twinning #momlife #mumlife #premmiebabies #twins #newborn #cute #preemiebabies #surgery

A post shared by The Momo Twin Experience (@momotwinexperience) on Mar 14, 2019 at 1:18am PDT